Grand Rapids Airport (GRR) News and Developments

[Pattmost20]

3 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Allegiant Airlines expanding their base here, adding 66 positions:

https://www.rightplace.org/news/the-right-place-and-gerald-r-ford-international-airport-fuel-allegiant-air-expansion

Maybe prepping for eventual routes to Mexico/DR.

[joeDowntown]

31 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Allegiant Airlines expanding their base here, adding 66 positions:

https://www.rightplace.org/news/the-right-place-and-gerald-r-ford-international-airport-fuel-allegiant-air-expansion

Seems like this could be a pretty big deal, open a few more routes, and potentially make GRR more competitive on ticket prices to certain destinations. Nice!

Joe

[walker]

51 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Allegiant Airlines expanding their base here, adding 66 positions:

https://www.rightplace.org/news/the-right-place-and-gerald-r-ford-international-airport-fuel-allegiant-air-expansion

Deja vu:

FEB 2010: Allegiant expanding their base here, adding 60 positions

Didn't last long back then, just long enough for people to move here and buy homes and then have to move.  Maybe it will work this time.  I wonder if the 42.8 million in capital is actual parts and equipment permanently based at the airport or if it just represents the value of the planes parked overnight on the tarmac, that's pretty much what it amounted to last time.   

Edited January 15, 2019 by walker

[GR8scott]

This is great BUT it has happened before, Allegiant seems to be the least loyal of the Airlines, pulling out of cities Abrubptly also has minimal staffing, I’m surprised they quipped that the pay would be twice MI avg. Also smaller cities like Knoxville and Asheville are currently bases as well and might just mean a few more big hub destinations like Newark. It should also mean finally LAX as that is also an Allegiant hub. Larger cities like Indy and cincy are bases and fly to places like Austin, Nashville and New Orleans which would be cool but highly doubt this has anything to do with Mexico or DE as Allegiant doesn’t fly international plus GRR would be at least a year or two away from that.

[ChevalierNoir]

17 minutes ago, GR8scott said:

It should also mean finally LAX as that is also an Allegiant hub. 

I hope so! 

[GR8scott]

16 minutes ago, ChevalierNoir said:

I hope so! 

I should add that the A320s have the distance to make it as well whereas I believe the older less efficient MD88s would have been at the edge of their range to LAX probably a reason they already have routes to places like Cedar Rapids and BentonVille  but not here. 

[Pattmost20]

42 minutes ago, GR8scott said:

highly doubt this has anything to do with Mexico or DE as Allegiant doesn’t fly international plus GRR would be at least a year or two away from that.

Right, I was getting them confused with Spirit. Honestly I would be more excited about having an LAX flight than one to Cancun or DR.

[GRDadof3]

Nashville and Savannah, GA just added:

https://www.grbj.com/articles/92457-ford-airport-lands-two-new-destinations

[Pattmost20]

44 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Nashville and Savannah, GA just added:

https://www.grbj.com/articles/92457-ford-airport-lands-two-new-destinations

Nice! Have a wedding near Savannah in October.

[mjak68]

1 hour ago, Pattmost20 said:

Nice! Have a wedding near Savannah in October.

And not only that!!   https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/01/airline-to-make-grand-rapids-airport-one-of-its-us-bases.html

[GRDadof3]

4 hours ago, Pattmost20 said:

Nice! Have a wedding near Savannah in October.

I booked us on Allegiant for spring break, 5 of us, GRR to PIE (St Pete). Actually had pretty good pricing, definitely good enough to keep us here at GRR instead of driving to DTW or ORD, which was a welcome change. I must've been the booking that pushed Allegiant over the edge to invest here.   lol

[MJLO]

7 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I booked us on Allegiant for spring break, 5 of us, GRR to PIE (St Pete). Actually had pretty good pricing, definitely good enough to keep us here at GRR instead of driving to DTW or ORD, which was a welcome change. I must've been the booking that pushed Allegiant over the edge to invest here.   lol

Even the legacy flights out of GRR are really cheap right now.

[Guest]

Anyone think we'll ever get a Europe or Asia flight?  Something like London, Paris, Tokyo?  Can GRR handle that large of a plane?  The only reason I mention Asia is I know Amway has a lot of operations over there, especially Vietnam.

[egrguy]

2 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

Anyone think we'll ever get a Europe or Asia flight?  Something like London, Paris, Tokyo?  Can GRR handle that large of a plane?  The only reason I mention Asia is I know Amway has a lot of operations over there, especially Vietnam.

The airport  can handle Air Force 1. So I think the airport could potentially handle some of the larger jets used for international travel. I'd think at some point in the next decade or so a London flight could be possible.

[walker]

WARNING: old man long story coming up:

On 1/15/2019 at 8:12 PM, Floyd_Z said:

Anyone think we'll ever get a Europe or Asia flight?  Something like London, Paris, Tokyo?  Can GRR handle that large of a plane?

Sure GRR can handle large planes.  In fact, on July 26, 1989 a flight from Grand Rapids set the non-stop distance record for a commercial twinjet, 8,893 statute miles, GRR to the city of Mahe in Seychelles, an obscure island country in the Indian Ocean.  The trip was done covertly and there was no mention of it till after the plane landed in Seychelles just under seventeen hours later.  In order to get my facts straight, I found an article at the library published in the GR Press the day after it landed.

Here’s the story: The president of Seychelles came to the United States to meet with President Bush and to pick-up a new Boeing 767-200ER aircraft for their national airline.  Intent on setting a new distance record, it was determined that Grand Rapids was the best place to take off from in order not to come up short and run out of fuel and crash into the Indian Ocean.  GRR was a clear shot and not being particularly busy there was much less chance of congestion delays than say in Chicago. The state department and the secret service ran the show.  So, the plane overnighted at an obscure part of the airport away from the terminal.  Boeing provided security to guard the plane.  Airport officials were told to not tell anyone about the plane or the flight until it landed at its destination.  According to the Press, there were thirty-two passengers including the president of Seychelles, France-Albert René, his cabinet, the U.S. ambassador to Seychelles, and a representative of the National Aeronautic Association who was along to verify the flight.  The Press said they stayed the night before the flight at a nearby hotel.  I no longer remember why I believe this but I think they stayed at what is now the Crown Plaza but then was probably the Marriott.  I could be remembering wrong though and I suppose it could have been the nearby Motel 6.  Since they were traveling incognito, I wonder whose credit card and driver's license they used when they checked in.  The plane took off around six the next morning and arrived in Mahe sixteen hours and forty-nine minutes later.

According to the article, a Boeing publicist said that it was a record likely to stand a long time.  He was wrong.  Eleven months later a passenger-less 767-200ER took off from Boeing Field in Seattle and landed in Nairobi, Kenya, seventeen hours and fifty-one minutes later, after flying 9,253 statute miles. 

So why all the secrecy?  The Press article doesn’t say.  Here’s my speculation: I Googled up President France-Albert René.  He was installed as president in 1977 in a coup d'état while the then current president was in London attending a conference.  I’m guessing he wanted to keep his trip out of the country a secret from his enemies so that the same thing didn’t happen to him.  Apparently he had plenty of enemies.  Over his long reign several failed coups were attempted against him.  The U.S. apparently was at times for him and at other times against him.  The CIA sponsored one of the coup attempts but on another occasion they discovered a coup being planned and let him know about it.  Despite all the coup attempts, he became known as a benevolent dictator and he actually peaceably retired in 2004 and I believe he is still around.  

FOOTNOTES:

Wikipedia: President France-Albert Rene

Declassified memo – Bush SR. meets with France-Albert René a few days before flight

PDF of GR Press article July 28, 1989:

Seychelles flight.pdf

 

Edited January 20, 2019 by walker
for clarity and to fix typos and link

[organsnyder]

Fascinating—thanks for sharing!

[MJLO]

https://www.woodtv.com/news/kent-county/2018-sixth-straight-year-of-record-growth-for-ford-airport/1711324392

Airport ended 2018 with 3,263,234  passengers. A 16% increase that  blows 2017's record of 2.8 million passengers out of the water.  3.2 million passengers puts the airport above places like Rochester, NY, Birmingham, and Tulsa.  Based on 2017 numbers I am expecting it to surpass El Paso, putting it right around the 75th busiest airport in the country.  It will still be behind cities like Louisville and Omaha.  The competition seems to be heating up among the discount carriers, and they keep adding routes.  The legacy carriers also seem to be responding with much more competitive rates right now as well.  It will be interesting to see if this continues the momentum the airport has seen over the last year.  I wonder how much of the passenger attrition to the larger airports has slowed.  I also wonder if GRR is starting to pull passengers from Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Traverse now.   Hopefully the government shutdown doesn't last too much longer and the FAA publishes the national traffic report soon. 

[arcturus]

12 hours ago, MJLO said:

I also wonder if GRR is starting to pull passengers from Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Traverse now.

Based on the number of flights to FL alone I suspect it's pulling quite a few.   Traverse is only a bit over a 2 hour drive.  The side story has to be the number of hotels which have gone online over the past few years that took notice of passenger growth.  All in all pretty remarkable considering it's wedged between major airports while keeping the Uber/Lyft drivers happy.

[joeDowntown]

4 hours ago, arcturus said:

Based on the number of flights to FL alone I suspect it's pulling quite a few.   Traverse is only a bit over a 2 hour drive.  The side story has to be the number of hotels which have gone online over the past few years that took notice of passenger growth.  All in all pretty remarkable considering it's wedged between major airports while keeping the Uber/Lyft drivers happy.

What do you mean by keeping the Uber/Lyft drivers happy (just curious)? Is Grand Rapids considered to be a good market for Uber/Lyft? Thanks d imagine there’s quite a good market going to/from the airport  

Joe

[GRDadof3]

50 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

What do you mean by keeping the Uber/Lyft drivers happy (just curious)? Is Grand Rapids considered to be a good market for Uber/Lyft? Thanks d imagine there’s quite a good market going to/from the airport  

Joe

I would think if people are traveling to this area to fly out of GRR, they're leaving their cars at the hotel long term? And taking uber/lyft to the airport? Are local hotels offering that now like hotels around DTW and ORD? 

[arcturus]

17 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

What do you mean by keeping the Uber/Lyft drivers happy (just curious)? Is Grand Rapids considered to be a good market for Uber/Lyft? Thanks d imagine there’s quite a good market going to/from the airport 

With over 2000 passengers/day greater than just a few years ago all the transportation services are busier. I can't say whether the market is any better or worse than elsewhere but I've taken Uber/Lyft a half dozen times over the past year going or coming and virtually all the drivers I've spoken to have commented how busier their airport runs have become.  

It makes you wonder how many extra long term parking spots would be necessary today absent this service.

[joeDowntown]

5 minutes ago, arcturus said:

With over 2000 passengers/day greater than just a few years ago all the transportation services are busier. I can't say whether the market is any better or worse than elsewhere but I've taken Uber/Lyft a half dozen times over the past year going or coming and virtually all the drivers I've spoken to have commented how busier their airport runs have become.  

It makes you wonder how many extra long term parking spots would be necessary today absent this service.

I have read about larger airports losing serious revenue because of Lyft/Uber as they've relied on the parking revenue for decades. I think it works out really well for GRR as we have a large parking structure,(which is always pretty full) but it may allow the airport to put money into other areas as it grows (other than parking). Uber works really well when flying out of GRR. 

I was just wondering if there were any stats around Uber/Lyft in GR and how it impacts airport parking/traffic.

Joe

[Hoeks]

Depending on how long my trips are, I will often times take Lyft to and from the airport (typically only cost $16 one way).    Like arcturus, many of the drivers say that are busy with airport calls.     If you link your Lyft account to Delta Skymiles, each $1 on Lyft is 1 skymile, with promos that  are 2x to 3x when used to / from airports.   

[kwl]

I'm traveling maybe 20-25 times a year for business and while I started out using Lyft/Uber (since it's cheaper than parking in the garage for a 4 day trip), I've really cut back over the past year and a half. Here is what is driving that decision: 

-Most business travelers are going to be flying either early in the AM or later in the evening. 90% of my flights are leaving on the 5:30-6:30AM Delta flights as I'm trying to be at my destination by mid-morning at the latest.

-On the return flights, I'm typically leaving the destination in the hours between 2:00PM-5:30PM. 90% of the time (unfortunately) this puts me in GR around 9:00PM-11:30PM. West Coast flights are even worse. I've had to leave Denver 3 times this year before 6:00AM and it will put me in GR around 5:00PM (if I'm not on the United direct). 

-With TSA-Pre, I typically aim to be at GRR around 10-15 minutes before boarding (so roughly an hour before departure time). This cuts is close usually, but have never had issues. Once left downtown 40 minutes before departure (so start of boarding) and still made the flight about 3 minutes before boarding door close. Many people are much more conservative though and aim to be to the airport an hour before boarding (1:40 before departure). For a ~6:00AM flight, this is arriving at the airport as early as 4:00AM. 

-Assuming a departure from downtown, an Uber/Lyft takes about 20-25 minutes to get to GRR. That would mean hailing service as early as 3:30AM sometimes. I've never had success with getting a ride this early. Keep in mind that would mean a car would be outside your door step and in GR, I've had cars come from as far as Grandville before. Which, in and of itself would add another 20-30 minutes of waiting meaning that you'd need to hail at 3:00AM. 

-The same goes for flights arriving later in the night. At 11:30PM arrival times, I've hailed Ubers only to be assigned a driver that is downtown. This, of course, takes 20-30 minutes for them to arrive and at that time of night I am not really interested in burning more time. This means I'll usually try to hail the second the wheels hit the runway. 

All things aside, it's just not very reliable for people on similar schedules (which I would imagine would be a large number of people traveling for work). Hopefully this means the garage will remain quite full (it's very hard to find parking as is) for some time to come. 

 

[GRDadof3]

Ooof:

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/01/grand-rapids-airport-ceo-resigned-after-poor-leadership-marks-in-survey.html

Grand Rapids airport CEO resigned after poor leadership marks in survey

So did he resign after getting this survey, or was he asked to resign? If he resigned after having his people give him poor marks on one survey, it seems like he'd take the opportunity to adjust his leadership style. The leadership team could have even hired consultants to help with that. Strange...